


The People You Meet on Kink Memes, Vol. 1

by Sakura_no_Miko



Category: Meta - Fandom
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Commentary, Fanfiction, Fangirls, Gen, Humor, Kink Meme, Lists, Meta, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-27
Updated: 2012-02-27
Packaged: 2017-12-17 12:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/867806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakura_no_Miko/pseuds/Sakura_no_Miko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I was bored one day while browsing the Sherlock kink meme.</p>
<p>I'd seen people do lists like “the five annoying internet commentators on every site” or “The 14 types of anime fangirl,” and it got me thinking. I've been reading kink memes for a bit, and you do start to see patterns.</p>
    </blockquote>





	The People You Meet on Kink Memes, Vol. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was bored one day while browsing the Sherlock kink meme.
> 
> I'd seen people do lists like “the five annoying internet commentators on every site” or “The 14 types of anime fangirl,” and it got me thinking. I've been reading kink memes for a bit, and you do start to see patterns.

**1\. The Serial Prompter**  
Someone who takes full advantage of the Anonymous setting to prompt whatever comes into their head. Tends to prompt more than fill. Naturally, these types of posters are difficult to identify. As a kink meme goes on, the number of these prompters tends to increase.  
Weakness: IP posting, forgetting to turn on Anon

  * See also: **The Serial Re-Prompter (self)** A relative of the Serial Prompter listed above. This is the Anon who prompts the same prompt (or a close variant) to every part of the meme, often adding lengthy, whiny cries of "come on guise, fill" or "why hasn't this been filled yet?" Weakness: Still not getting that fill, IP posting, forgetting to turn on Anon
  * See also: **The Serial Re-Prompter (other)** In love with the sound of others' words, this Serial Re-prompter will reprompt prompts they have read in the past, and may become attached to the adopted prompt as if it was their own. Occasionally met with startled replies of, “wait, this was **my** prompt!” Weaknesses: Still not getting that fill, IP posting, forgetting to turn on Anon, annoying the original prompter
  * See also: **The Serial Seconder** While seemingly a minor part of the kink meme ecosystem, the contributions of seconders is nonetheless one of the oldest and most recognized of the non-prompter and non-filler roles. Often used as an informal gauge of a prompt's popularity, seconding may lead to fruitful discussion, new memes, and possible fills. Or it might senselessly take up comment space with meaningless numbers. Research is still being evaluated. Weaknesses: running out of comment space, correlation between larger numbers and larger sense of uselessness



**2\. The Lengthy Prompter**  
The Anon who gives you paragraphs of detailed plot, world-building, character or relationship development, or other such lengthy requests. Requests of this nature are generally met with, “wow, that sounds awesome — why don't you write it yourself?”, much to the prompter's chagrin.  
Weakness: Still not getting that fill, scaring off potential fillers with their lengthy demands

**3\. The Succinct Prompter**  
This person limits their prompts to "X/Y, bloodplay" or a similarly open-ended requests. One of the polar opposites of the Lengthy Prompter.  
Weaknesses: Still not getting that fill, leaving too much freedom to the fillers 

**4\. The Unsure Prompter**  
Easily identified by their tendency to try and please as many potential fillers as possible, and/or their relaxed, I'll-take-anything attitude. Typically prompts with multiple scenarios, desperate to entice potential fillers: “Uh, I'd like to see hurt/comfort with Character X and Character Y. Like, maybe X is sick and Y takes care of him, or maybe Y gets hurt on a mission, or X used to be abused by his evil ex/family/boss and Y helps him.”Another polar opposite of the Lengthy Prompter.   
Weaknesses: Potential fillers engaging in a long game of, “OP, is (insert plot here) okay?”

  * See also: **The Any-Pairing-Is-Fine Prompter** Easily identified by their characteristic fill-seeking call, “Any pairing is fine,” sometimes followed by, “I just really want to see (insert kink here).” Polar opposite of OTP fans. Weaknesses: Discovering there are, in fact, pairings they don't like



**5\. The Let's Work Together Prompter**  
Simultaneously more dependent on fillers than any other prompter, and yet able to summon the participation of a much larger pool of fillers than other prompters due to low requirements, this prompter posts open-ended, game-like prompts meant for multiple fills, i.e., one sentence stories, group-fic.  
Weaknesses: people not playing along, running out of comment space

**6\. The Crack Prompter**  
This highly unpredictable breed of prompter's posts are full of non-sequiters, memes, drunken antics, physically impossible (or at least highly improbable) actions or bodily mutations, bizarre pairings, randomly generated prompts, etc. Approach with caution and MS Paint. Repeated exposure to crack prompters can cause permanent brain damage.   
Weaknesses: very possibly none, aside from still not getting a fill.

**7\. The Crossover Prompter**  
This prompter requests crossovers with other series. While crossovers may yield unexpectedly intriguing results, there is a definite trajectory of crossover requests as the meme goes on — at the outset of a new meme, crossover requests will tend to be logically connected to the subject of the meme, usually due to thematic, characteristic, or production similarities between the two subjects. As a meme goes on, and the logical crossovers are requested, the sorts of media being crossed over start to become more unique, unexpected, unconnected, and just plain weird. At this point in the meme, Crossover Prompters begin to distinctly resemble Crack Prompters.  
Weaknesses: not finding any fillers who know the requested material

  * **See also: The Inspired-By Prompter** A person who prompts for fics inspired by songs, poems, movies, fairy tales, pictures, current news events, etc. Expect lots of **italics** , “quotes,” and [embedded media](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&ob=av3e). Weaknesses: inability to provide links to the material, inability to properly embed pictures and video while Anon



**8\. The Prompt-and-Write-Own-Fill Prompter**  
This one tends to come in two variants: the prompter who writes a prompt and, with a sigh, posts a few replies later, saying, "geez, I just filled my own prompt,” and the slippery creature who posts a prompt for the sole purpose of submitting their own fic.   
Weaknesses: not being able to get that prompt out of their head (for the former), need for attention (latter)

**9\. The Technology Is Failing Me Prompter**  
New to kink memes, websites, and/or the internet in general, this poor prompter's lack of technological awareness leads to many errant comments, replies to the wrong thread, embedding fails, illegible formatting, and fills that present themselves in an amusingly avant garde (and in no way linear, lineal, or numerical) order.   
It's important to note that membership in this group becomes more likely the more alcohol and/or less sleep a meme-goer has.   
Weaknesses: new websites, updated websites, html, the dosh-garn-newfangled internets

**10\. The Not-Quite-Right Filler**  
A person who writes a fill in good faith, only to come back and realize they forgot or left out a significant part of the prompt, wrote the wrong pairing, etc. Often gushing with apologies for the OP.   
Rarely, a more malevolent variant manifests itself on kink memes, purposefully leaving out elements of the OP's request to make the prompt suit its own needs. These occasionally unite with the dreaded Thread Hijackers (see entry below) and Trolls (see entry below) to cause angst and anger across a meme. Treat with caution.  
Weaknesses: self-guilt, unhappy OPs

**11\. The Highly-Visible Poster**  
A controversial, but notable minority on an otherwise Anonymous kink meme: the person who willingly forgoes a life on fellow Anonymity to post fics and prompts. Often accused of being a fame-seeker, this type of kink meme-goer may simple not care or actively seek to become a Big Name Fan©. Highly-Visible Posters should be prepared to be loved and reviled, often simultaneously.   
Note that foregoing Anon posting in and of itself is not always a sign of being a Highly-Visible Poster, but it may well be a precursor.   
Weaknesses: enforced Anon, anger of the meme community, stalking

**12\. The Role-Player**  
Utterly brilliant or utterly annoying, these fans take their love for characters to an extreme, often setting up elaborate fake accounts, icons, and personas in order to post 'in-character.' Successful role-players may be embraced by a meme, though many end up forming their own communities. Less successful role-players are often derided for distracting from the prompt, and the eternal question of “does role-playing count as a fill?” has plagued kink meme academics for decades.   
Can be considered a subset of The Highly-Visible Poster.  
Weaknesses: the 'is this a fill?' debate, running out of comment space, obsessive-compulsion attention to every detail of the character account

**13\. The Off-Topic Commenters**  
The people who start up a conversation in the prompt comments, often off-topic, that goes on long enough to start nesting.   
Weaknesses: running out of comment space, annoyed OPs, gentle reminders to 'take it off the meme'

  * See also: **The Thread Hijackers** While Off-Topic Commenters may be forgiven for their enthusiasm, Thread Hijackers are often viewed with disdain and a hand on the 'thread freeze' button. Usually charged with making argumentative, offensive, and otherwise time-wasting comments, Thread Hijackers are feared by prompters and kink meme enjoyers alike for bringing the fun to a screeching halt, and wasting meme space to do so. Weaknesses: mods, thread freezes, IP posting, less-than-gentle reminders to 'take it off the meme' 



**14\. The Troll**  
More than any other type of prompter, The Troll's appearance is a certainty on any kink meme. They post offensive prompts or comments just to stir up trouble. May manifest as a Thread Hijacker or Not-Quite-Right Filler.   
Weakness: mods, thread freezes, IP posting, intelligent thought

  * See also: **The Unintentional Troll** A controversial variant of The Troll who claims that their inflammatory statements were sincerely the result of ignorance, not malice. Many experienced meme-goers no longer recognize The Unintentional Troll as a valid category, but merely as camouflage put up by The Troll in self-defense. Weaknesses: poor word choice, tone not translating over the internet, ignorance



**15\. The Fills-But-Doesn't-Prompt Filler** *UNDER EVALUATION*  
Rarer than a unicorn, and much more valuable, this unique (some would say mythical) Anon writes fills but does not add to the glut of prompts. Work without reward indeed.  
Weaknesses: charity, selflessness, a giving heart, being loved too much

**Author's Note:**

> As indicated by the title, I did eventually plan to write some sort of sequel. Never got around to it, but I still like the title.


End file.
